The facility is used both by the school and other types of shows brought forward by various groups in the Columbia Valley.

The “Enhancing Performing Arts in the Columbia Valley Project” seeks to build capacity for performing arts, education and, sports and recreation in the Columbia Valley.

The Shadbolt turns 15 this month.

Named for Burnaby artist Jack, and art historian and curator Doris, Shadbolt, the centre was the first of its kind in B.C., a “purpose-built multipurpose arts facility,” according to the city’s assistant director of cultural services, Denis Nokony.

Nokony was instrumental in the planning for the Shadbolt.

“The whole cultural campus, the complex, in a very beautiful setting, is second-to-none,” he says.

The school’s principal, Dave Thomson, representing School District 61, made the request to council on Monday. He said the Ministry of Education was not prepared to fund a performing arts theatre, but the community wants it.

Four councillors and Mayor Christopher Causton voiced their support for a 450-seat performing arts theatre to be built in conjunction with the new $52 million-school.

The 1,260-seat Massey, built in built in 1948, is the largest proscenium theatre in Metro Vancouver outside Vancouver city limits. It is to be replaced with a new, 1,000-seat Massey Performing Arts Centre, to be built as part of a new high school.

Funding for the new venue is to be split between the city and province, with the city covering costs of 350 seats, and the province covering the remaining 650 through the Neighbourhoods of Learning initiative, which allows up to 15 per cent of additional space in new schools to be dedicated to the broader community.

The theatre will be built with funding from the provincial Ministry of Education and the City of New Westminster. The province would fund up to 650 seats plus classroom and rehearsal space for the performing arts while the city would pay for the remaining 350 seats, the box office and other features.

The theatre is to remain the property of the school district but to be leased to the city for 50 years. In turn, the Massey Theatre Society would be engaged by New Westminster to run the day-to-day operations.

Through corporate sponsors, community support from business donors and generous individuals, the society hopes to make its Superstar program a huge success.

The Superstar program allows for the provision of complimentary tickets to social service agencies in the community, which in turn can distribute them to individuals or families on limited incomes who cannot regularly afford to attend a cultural event.

He’s Guy Lapointe the new manager, and he wants to know what you’d like from your theatre.

And that could include more ‘big-name’ acts.

“I really see a lot of potential here,” he told the Courier-Islander. “I really think that there should be some risk-taking here, there should be a willingness to look at these big-name acts. Let’s bring in the names that everybody wants to see. When those dollars come in as they will – those people sell themselves – then we’ll be able to support the local musicians, the local artists, the BC artists, because we’re not depending on their money to support us. We’re using the big-time money to come through and support the other side of things.”

In Revelstoke, the answer seems to be ‘yes.’ The Roxy Theatre hosted a free screening of The Metropolitan Opera’s The Barber of Seville on Sept. 25, and many did break into an applause after individual performances – and it wasn’t even a live show.

Their first live offering is a showing of Les Miserables live from the O2 Arena in London on Oct. 4.

The Metropolitan Opera series starts live on Oct. 9 with a new Met production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold directed by Canadian theatre icon Robert Lepage. The show is the first of 10 Metropolitan Opera productions to be screened live at the Roxy Theatre as part of the iconic New York opera’s 2010/11 season. The Revelstoke audience gets front-row seats, as well as a look behind-the scenes during the intermissions.

The building will reach its quarter of a century milestone in 2012, and while staff and the City have kept it well maintained, it is beginning to show some wear and tear because it is such a busy place.

At the September 20 council meeting, the Lester Centre Society board requested a commitment of $140,000 and in-kind support valued at $30,000 from the City to apply to the Department of Canadian Heritage for funds to do the renovations.

Capitol Theatre manager Elliot Drew is worried that with government funding cuts and low season ticket sales—they’ve only sold 25 and the season starts next week—the amateur theatre company won’t be able to operate next year.

“I have no way to balance my budget this year,” Drew said.

The Capitol has been a theatre venue in Port Alberni for 75 years, starting out as a moving pictures house.

“You can’t put siding on a house in Queen’s Park without conforming to heritage standards,” said Chad Matchette, producer of the Royal City Musical Theatre.

“Why don’t we celebrate what we have? Why are we so anxious to rip this thing down for our new, shiny toy?”

Matchette’s comments came in the wake of a presentation last night (Sept. 7) on the high school project, which focused specifically on how the Massey Theatre figures into the replacement of the New Westminster Secondary School (NWSS).

And Matchette was not alone in his concerns. The majority of the 50 or so attendees at the meeting were vocal in their resistance to the city and school district’s plan to tear down what one person called “their sacred space.”

“On Friday, September 10 we look forward to reopening the theatre to the public,” says Randy Zahara, Kelowna Community Theatre Manager.

“Our customers and outstanding fall performers are sure to be excited to spend memorable moments in the revitalized Kelowna Community Theatre.”

The Kelowna Community Theatre was built in 1962 and has undergone a number of updates over the years. Updates include the addition of a rehearsal hall and the Black Box Theatre, expansion of the lobby and upgrades to the green and dressing rooms.

The City of Nanaimo committed $525,000 to the former nightclub and church at 25 Victoria Rd. in 2008, purchasing the building for about $450,000 and turning the remaining funds over to the CVI Centre for the Arts to manage and complete upgrades. It also provides an annual $6,300 permissive tax exemption.

Since the purchase, the building has seen a variety of arts activity, but has barely broken even.

Camela Tang, president of the Centre for the Arts, said year-to-date operating expenses for 2009-10 were $9,036.13, while revenue was $10,046.09.

Tang said the building required massive upgrades to bring it up to code, with work done on the sprinkling and electrical systems, upgrading the stage and making the centre wheelchair accessible.

Doti Niedermayer is the executive director of Whistler Arts Council, which took over the management of MY Place in June. She explained that during the Olympics, when MY Place served as Whistler Media House, Ticketmaster wasn’t allowed to have a presence in the building. After the Games, WAC and MY Place decided not to renew their contract with Ticketmaster because it was labour intensive and actually costing them money to sell tickets to outside events.

“It was very, very time consuming to be a Ticketmaster outlet, and that was not covered by Ticketmaster,” Niedermayer explained. “So, for example, if the staff here were selling tickets to AC/DC or Pearl Jam, the time it took to sell that ticket, or those 30 tickets or 150 tickets, was never covered by Ticketmaster.”

Much of that has to do with the people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make the theatre tick, so to speak.

Down in the belly of the centre, in the lower level lobby, is a windowless office where the centre’s management team has seen a major overhaul with the creation of two positions that used to be done by one person.

Executive director Pamela Burns-Resch and artistic director Erin Kennedy have taken over for the centre’s original executive director, Michael Cade, whose reign ended last fall when he decided to take a job managing Chilliwack’s cultural centre.